Union Weighs 'Miss Saigon' Casting

By ALEX WITCHEL

Published: July 25, 1990

Members of the Actors' Equity Association failed to decide yesterday whether the union would permit the English actor Jonathan Pryce to repeat his performance as a Eurasian when the hit musical ''Miss Saigon'' moves to Broadway from London.

No decision on allowing Mr. Pryce to perform in New York was reached in a three-hour meeting at Equity's offices on West 46th Street. No date has been set for another meeting.

The show's producer, Cameron Mackintosh, said he would not comment until a decision was made. The musical is scheduled to open in New York in March and has already generated $24 million in advance ticket sales, the largest advance sale in Broadway history.

A complaint about the casting of Mr. Pryce as the Eurasian owner of a bar and brothel in Saigon during the Vietnam War was filed with the Asian division of the ethnic minorities committee of Actors' Equity by the playwright David Henry Hwang, who won a Tony Award for ''M. Butterfly'' in 1988, and the actor B. D. Wong, who won a Tony as best supporting actor in that play.

The two expressed indignation that the role of a Eurasian was being played by a Caucasian. Mr. Pryce won an Olivier Award as best actor for his work in ''Miss Saigon'' and won a Tony Award as best actor in the 1976 Broadway production of ''Comedians.''

'Irreparable Damage' Cited

Mr. Hwang wrote a letter to Equity in which he said, ''Mr. Pryce is an excellent actor, but I would be equally upset were he cast as Boy Willie in 'The Piano Lesson.' ''

Mr. Wong wrote three letters, one to the president of Equity, Colleen Dewhurst, in which he said, ''There is no doubt in my mind of the irreparable damage to my rights as an actor that would be wrought if (at the threshold of the 21st century) Asian actors are kept from bringing their unique dignity to the specifically Asian roles in 'Miss Saigon,' and therefore to all racially specific roles in every future production which will look to the precedent 'Miss Saigon' is about to set as a concrete model.''

In a letter to the chairmen of Equity's committee for racial equality and its alien committee, he wrote: ''We may never be able to do the real work we dream to do if a Caucasian actor with taped eyelids hops on the Concorde. . . . Chances to nail the big guys like this don't come often. Let's do it.''

Neither Mr. Wong nor Mr. Hwang returned telephone calls this week.

In his letter to Ms. Dewhurst, Mr. Wong also said: ''Allowing such a blatant example of high profile, racially false casting in our own back yard because British Equity has not taken care of its own members the way A.E.A. aims to would be passive and self-destructive.''

No Complaints in Britain

Peter Plouviez, general secretary of British Equity, said in a telephone interview yesterday: ''We have had no complaints from our Asian members. In this country extensive efforts were made to cast the role with an Asian actor, but none of them thought they could do it. If American Equity believes it is racist in all circumstances to 'black up' or 'yellow up,' the rule should apply to their own members first. You shouldn't use the coincidence of someone needing a work permit to enforce something they don't want to enforce in relation to their own people. If there was an American Equity rule that said no non-Asian artist shall be able to be 'yellowed up' to play in American theater, then Cameron Mackintosh would never have dreamed of employing Jonathan Pryce. But there is no such rule.''

The casting director for ''Miss Saigon,'' Vincent G. Liff of the Johnson, Liff & Zerman casting agency, wrote to Mr. Mackintosh in response to the complaint. He said that ''there has been no professional venue for the development of the Asian actor or Asian actor/singer to exercise his talents on the Broadway stage between 'Flower Drum Song' and 'The World of Suzie Wong' in 1958 and 'M. Butterfly' in 1988, a 30-year span.''

''With the exception of the original and revival companies of 'Pacific Overtures' and two Broadway revivals of 'The King and I,' there was nothing in between,'' Mr. Liff continued. ''The bottom line is there was just no product to provide Asian actors with successful, financially viable acting careers in the mainstream venues of Broadway, film and television.''

'Endless' Auditions

Mr. Liff went on: ''We have overall auditioned hundreds more Asian performers in the continental United States and Hawaii than we have Caucasian performers. . . . We have conducted endless totally open calls in New York City (many), Los Angeles (3 occasions), San Francisco (3 occasions), Hawaii (3 occasions), Manila (3 occasions), San Jose (once), Orange County (once),'' Mr. Liff's letter said. ''We are currently on our way to Daly City (California), Vancouver and Toronto continuing our quest for Asian talent in these Asian centers of population.''

Mr. Liff went on to say that he and on of the show's musical supervisors had held an eight-hour open call in New York City, where they auditioned 189 Asian candidates for the show. In six days they saw 750 Asian performers, he said. ''I can say with the greatest assurance,'' he added, ''that if there were an Asian actor of 45-50 years, with classical stage background and an international stature and reputation, we would surely have sniffed him out by now. Furthermore, if we hadn't found him, he certainly would have found us.''